News : Infighting

The ministry of health, treatment and medical education released mortality rates from air pollution for major cities in Iran. Each year more than 4,400 people in Tehran, 3,200 people in Mashhad and 2,700 people in Isfahan die from air pollution. In these 3 cities alone 28 people die daily due to air pollution. Unannounced statistics in other cities indicate a true environmental disaster (Tabnak websites reports On February 24th).

The state-run ISNA news agency, quoting the Director General of Environment Agency on February 26th, wrote: “Iran ranks 114 among 132 countries in the environmental performance index. Currently, Iran is harvesting three times more than its bio-capacity and according to the World Bank report Iran pays $8 billion pollution damage annually. Tehran, Ahwaz and Isfahan are among the 10 most polluted cities in the world.”

Regarding the dire situation of lakes in Iran, the state-run Mehr news agency wrote on November 16th, 2013: “Despite the drop in water level of Lake Orumieh which has started in the 90s, the critical condition and destruction of this second largest salt water lake in the world has recently been announced. Lake Orumieh is now in danger of total destruction.”

The third largest lake in Iran, Lake Hamoun in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan, is also due for destruction. Lake Hamoun was formed by three smaller lakes and once provided water for 140,000 hectares of agricultural lands in eastern Iran. But today the lake shows no signs of life and cannot provide for the people. According to a representative from Zabol in Sistan province, 2000 families were forced to leave their residence near Lake Hamoun and move elsewhere due to the current diminished water levels.

The lack of attention given to this urgent issue by the Iranian regime has reached such an extreme point that a U.S. Senator recently said that due to its own environmental destruction, Iran does not need a foreign enemy.